Owners manual is your friend.
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Riding across Canada
- Thread starter olayda
- Start date
Not many pics.
My bad. Intended to post in my own thread.This post has been reported to the mods for thread-jacking an existing thread.
Please hand out the appropriate infractions and move this post to the correct thread:
Where's Wingboy?
I'm at home sucking on a beer.Booo. Lots of little details still to take care of before i take off.Spent a couple of hours with my financial planner yesterday transferring rrsp's from joint to just me.Still waiting for my extra credit card to arrive.The joint ones were cancelled when my wife...
KTHXBYE
Centrestand. Lube when stopping for the night and adjust if required.
It really depends on the bike. As @Wingboy says, owners manual is your friend. My Hyper needs the chain slack checked and adjusted while on the sidestand with both wheels on the ground. My enduros need a lift stand and wheels off the ground to check the slack.
I always adjust with a stand but then how do you carry a stand on a road trip?
Adjust with your stand. Put it on the sidestand and take note of where it is like that.
you can easily make/buy something like this. This plus sidestand equals rear wheel in the air.
Yep, and if you don't know the measurements, or if the measurements are changed due to packed luggage that you don't want to take off your bike, in a pinch, you can also have someone help you push the bike off to the left side when it's on the kickstand, levering the rear wheel off the ground. Then you can check the slack that way. Let the bike back down, move the chain adjusters, then lift the rear wheel off the ground again to check the slack once more.
Make sure whoever is helping you push the bike over also has the front brake engaged, otherwise, it'll roll off the kickstand!
Edit: This is how you can lube a chain without a stand too.
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Lubing the chain is easy just lean down while riding and spray it.
Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
Yeah... the only thing I can reach when I lean down on the motorcycle is the handlebars.
Tell me I eat too many cheeseburgers without telling me I eat too many cheeseburgers...
Does anyone use a scottoiler anymore or have chains and lubrication improved to the point that very few bother?
Funny you bring this up, I am actually in the midst of experimenting with my Hyper chain by not lubing it. Ever.
I've watched countless YouTube videos explaining that wear happens primarily because of the grit that grinds the sprocket and chain, and that spraying a wet lubricant can actually attract more grit, leading to premature wear. They go on to say that regularly cleaning the chain *without* lubing it is the best way to prolong life.
So I'm gonna try that.
Besides, I want to eventually bling it out with a DID ZVMX gold chain anyway.
But mainly because I'm super-lazy...
ifiddles
Well-known member
Itchy Boots uses (or at least she did in a previous season) an automatic chain oiler...I believe this is the one...
www.osco-chainoiler.com
Winkel – OSCO one second chain oiler
www.osco-chainoiler.com
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olayda
Well-known member
Thanks for all the info. !There's many ways to get to the west coast. For example: all Canadian, through the US, through Deals Gap and California...
I've ridden from TO to Van four times, each time taking a different way. There are different things to see via each route, also depends on your timeframe and how soon you need to get to Vancouver. Also, do you like to sightsee, ride twisty roads, gravel roads?
Here are a few routes:
The most common way people go is via the TransCanada. Takes about 4-6 days depending on your daily mileage:
View attachment 55640
Pros:
- Don't need a passport, don't need US medical insurance, don't need USD.
- It's always nice to see your own country and observe how the geography and culture changes from province to province
- North shore of Lake Superior is very scenic
- The Canadian Rockies are spectacular and worth seeing at least once in your life. Columbia Icefields are a must-see!
- Riding through BC is a wonderful experience
Cons:
- Depending on who you ask, the prairies are dead boring - straight and featureless for a couple of days.
- Even in August, you might encounter snow in the Rockies. I once rode through a snowstorm in Canmore in August!
There's the all-US route:
View attachment 55641
Pros:
- Fastest route. Even though you ride through some major cities (like Chicago), the high speed limits on US interstates through some of the boring sections (east and Grand Prairies) saves you a ton of time. The speed limit through Montana is 130 km/h. You're saving at least a day or more of travel time.
- No reciprocity for traffic tickets in the states that don't border Ontario. No record on your Ontario drivers license for speeding tickets.
- Amazing riding in South Dakota. That's where the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held and for good reason. Amazing roads in the area.
- Amazing riding roads in the Cascades Mountain range in WA as well as Idaho.
- Food and lodging in the US is much cheaper, even after the conversion rate.
Cons:
- as above, passport, travel insurance, USD
- Boring part becomes the eastern section, opposite of the all-Canadian route
My favorite is a mixture of the two, where you hit the North Shore of Superior, dip into the Dakotas, go up Glacier National Park in Montana to the Canadian Rockies and then over to Vancouver:
View attachment 55642
A good mix of both.
Cons: Need a bit more time.
Others will chime in with other routes, I'm sure.
olayda
Well-known member
Actually going West to East. I''ve got tons of time.. up to two weeks if I want.
Like riding twisties and sight seeing. Paved roads only
olayda
Well-known member
Tons of time - one way. Some burning but interested in wandering as well
olayda
Well-known member
Thanks. I have lots of timeYes! That's the thing, if you have time, there are interesting things to see everywhere, you just need to get off the highway and travel a little bit.
People think the Prairies are straight, boring and featureless, but if you just get off the TransCanada for a little bit, you can see things like the Big Muddy Badlands in southern Saskatchewan:
Unfortunately for most people, time is short and they pass up the less obvious places to head straight to the more well-known sites and attractions.
olayda
Well-known member
Thanks!
KLR Junkie
Well-known member
If you're staying in Canada, take the Yellowhead highway over the Trans-Canada every time. Still not the most exciting scenery in the world but it's not quite as monotonous. The Southern prairies are beautiful but 2 solid days of uninterrupted wheat/canola fields is a bit mind-numbing. The Northern route even has these strange things the local call trees...
If you take the Yellowhead across Alberta/Saskatchewan, make sure to pay attention to your fuel range. There are a few stretches where a bike with a smaller tank might get caught out.
BTW, if you're sticking to paved roads only you're going to have trouble doing much of anything off the main routes. Lots of gravel in AB/SK/MB, most of it is pretty decent to ride on in my experience.
If you take the Yellowhead across Alberta/Saskatchewan, make sure to pay attention to your fuel range. There are a few stretches where a bike with a smaller tank might get caught out.
BTW, if you're sticking to paved roads only you're going to have trouble doing much of anything off the main routes. Lots of gravel in AB/SK/MB, most of it is pretty decent to ride on in my experience.
Northern route for sure out of Hinton tho you could go even further north even over to Flin Flon but you'd have to check for gravel. I enjoyed the Northern TransCan but this route might be more interesting and still have pavement and services
I was doing 7-800 km a day to get home - if you do less you have more sight seeing time.
You can find out via Streetview often what the road surface is like. Endless trees.
I enjoyed the US route coming back via Crows Nest Pass to Glacier to Yosemite and Bearfoot Pass - even into the prairies it is pretty.
South Dakota in the spring - more historical places and services, cheaper gas. You usually get a big boost from the west wind coming east ( one reason we flew the bikes out and rode them back ) but traffic speeds are very high 85 mph +
are you motelling or camping?
I was doing 7-800 km a day to get home - if you do less you have more sight seeing time.
You can find out via Streetview often what the road surface is like. Endless trees.
I enjoyed the US route coming back via Crows Nest Pass to Glacier to Yosemite and Bearfoot Pass - even into the prairies it is pretty.
South Dakota in the spring - more historical places and services, cheaper gas. You usually get a big boost from the west wind coming east ( one reason we flew the bikes out and rode them back ) but traffic speeds are very high 85 mph +
are you motelling or camping?
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